I spent a pleasant late August day in the North East Yorkshire seaside town of Filey and found it to be a small hive of arts and crafts activity. The tourists and beach sun seekers who visit the town might be tempted by a piece of seaside art and there are certainly plenty of sellers trying to tempt them.
Generally the local offerings are of the folk arts and crafts variety. These works are much loved by the residents of middle England for their study rooms, dining rooms and conservatories. The paintings often reflect the Britain of the past, as if visitors to Filey are searching for some old time charm. Often the paintings, like the one above, seem to say that somehow life was more real in times gone by. Such is the conservatism of Filey’s clientele, drawn as it is from the sleepy towns and villages of the North and East Riding of Yorkshire.
This carving into stone in a 17th century building shows that religious fundamentalism is not entirely new. The fear of God be in you indeed. Or more accurately we need not fear God, if indeed he or she exists, but rather we should fear the people who choose to represent God.
Unsurprisingly a lot of the art in Filey has a definite seaside theme to it. Also it pays due respect to the seagulls which dominate the local ecosystem. You can hear seagulls all day every day in the town.
A selection of local arts and crafts are on offer in the Seagull Gallery, one of several galleries in Filey.
GrahamArt Art Gallery | Visual Artist | Painter 